Hero and Leander (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Christopher Marlowe
- First Published: 1598
- Type of Work: Epic
- Genres: Poetry, Epic, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: Mythology or myths, Homosexuality or homosexuals, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Virginity or virgins, Legends, Gods or goddesses, Fate or fatalism, Greece or Greek people
The Poem
Hero and Leander is a short, amorous epic written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter. It is divided into cantos called “sestiads,” after a verse form which gains its name from the isle of Sestos, where the action takes place. Apparently, Christopher Marlowe wrote the entire first two sestiads of 484 and 334 lines. Some believe these two chapters were meant in themselves to be a complete poem; others believe that Marlowe did not live to finish his work. In any case, George Chapman, the famous translator of Homer, took up the work and completed it by...
[The entire page is 2149 words long]
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